European Union renews sanctions on Mugabe on his birthday

The Council of the European Union voted on Friday to continue economic and travel restrictions on Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace Mugabe, and the country’s defence industry even though the EU Council voted on Monday to partially lift an arms embargo to allow for trade of explosives used in mining and infrastructure.

The sanctions have been in place since 2002 and restrict the president’s travel, freeze some of his assets and ban EU member states from trading arms with Zimbabwe. The EU sanctions were first imposed following the land reform programme where farms owned by white Zimbabweans were forcibly seized. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party has also been accused of rigging elections and cracking down on political opposition.

More: NewZimbabwe.com